2018 November

• Assist leadership with identifying books to support curriculum 
• Presented PD for NYLA: Empathy in public service 
• Reworked documentation and training to focus on correctly utilizing lesson plan template
• Collected and presented Google Classroom data for principals in an effort to move forward with student accounts. 
• Focused on identifying and rectifying broken technology

This month I met our new ED of education. I am excited to start a partnership with her and other leaders to bring technology at our schools into the 21st century. 

Continuing the information literacy classes has been a wonderful learning experience. I am finding that many students have the evaluation skills, but lack the ability to apply them. The unit presents specific sets of yes/no questions that students can ask themselves about any resource to determine its trustworthiness.

I’ve been trying to get regular volunteers into the library for years. One of the self-contained teachers has set up a monthly volunteer project. I have set up a long term book labeling project for students. I introduce students to the concept of organizing books and give them the tools to sort and label our fiction section. So far the students are doing wonderful, and the shelves look so professional! 

2018 October

The Google Classroom train keeps moving forward! This month I partnered with the curriculum coordinator to host a workshop to help staff become more confident with the collaborative side of the Google environment. I also adjusted documentation to reflect some procedural changes relating to giving teachers feedback and navigating the file structures within the platform. 

One campus started a teacher book club that may turn into a student book club. We are starting by reading Orphan Train. This sparked a potentially interesting project involving the organizational archives at the University of Rochester. I am working with UR to potentially set up a primary resource workshop for students. 

I continued library lessons and have identified the CRAAP method as the framework for the information literacy lessons. Its crude, but a memorable acronym that represents the tools needed to successfully navigate truth/falsehoods in life. I am truly enjoying developing the set of lessons, and am looking forward to teaching them. 

I also started up another pet project of mine: Resource Management. It is my vision to have all educational resources in a database that can be accessed and shared by all educational staff. I started by inventorying classroom sets. Discussions with Technology are needed to move forward with this project. 

2018 September

September was a month for getting staff trained on Google Classroom and Google Drive. I supported the process by creating documentation, sending out newsletters, traveling to campus for group demonstrations, 1:1 teacher training and presenting at the principals meeting. 

I also began teaching middle school information literacy lessons. I will be teaching four 7th & 8th grade classes. While teaching this class I hope to build a knowledge base to support the creation of a district library curriculum. To support this, I am studying the new AASL standards and exposing myself to a variety of district units and plans. I will continue this work throughout the year. 

I am determined to make the book festival a reality this year. In 2016 I successfully pulled it off, but after a few years with difficulty finding volunteers, I think it’s going to happen. I have enlisted the help of a new batch of volunteers and have scheduled the event for April. 

In my expanded role as District Librarian, I am developing a new library mission statement. With inspiration from our organizations mission and strategic pillars, the following are goals for the District Librarian. 

• Partnerships. The mission states that we provide services through an integrated system. I envision this position connecting departments (clinical, educational, IT) across the agency. Creating a central cohesion for therapeutic environment will strengthening services offered to clients.  
• Support. As our staff works to serve clients, the District Librarian will identify research, resources, assets, etc. from promising/proven practices to enrich services and improve outcomes. This support will be shared with staff in accessible formats that can be easily utilized in the busy environment.  
• Teaching. Librarianship is a teaching position at the core. Whether it be classroom teaching or professional development, the District Librarian will always have a foot in the classroom. 
• Planning. Education is at a pivotal stage in transformation. The District Librarian will be an important role in planning for the future. Librarians tend to be a ‘Jack of all trades’ and planning for the future often requires eyes of a person who understands multiple perspectives. A major focus of the planning in the early phases will be developing an information literacy curriculum for the schools. 

2018 August

To prep for the start of the new school year, I attended professional development focused on Genrefication and new AASL standards for students and school libraries. Learning about the updated AASL standards inspired me to start developing an information literacy curriculum. 

This month was a huge push to prep principals and staff in utilizing Google Classroom. To move forward and allow for students account activation, we must get 100% staff buy in. To support this, I created simple documentation to guide staff in the new lesson plan submission process. 

2018 June

End of the year! Everything is all set for The Wild Robot summer reading program. I created a packet of resources to distribute to teachers. In addition, I worked to obtain access to MyOn for entire educational community.

In other news: I have been approved to work 30 hours next year! I am looking forward to next year and my expanded role in assisting all educational facilities! 

2018 May

• Presented educational resources at new teacher dinner. 
• Finished curriculum booklist and created metrics to show its improved diversity focus. 
• Processed book donations

This month I focused on prepping for summer reading. We selected The Wild Robot and it provides a wonderful framework for students to study STEM, compare/contrast literature and discuss community and emotions. I began collecting and creating resources for the programming.  Can’t wait to see where the teachers take the lessons. 

2018 April

I continued working on the curriculum booklist. This update focused on increasing titles that focus on diversity and connecting books to specific curriculum standards. 

This month I also dove into research with the elementary students. I want them to have basic research skills when they move up to middle school. We focused on research using physical books and online databases. The end goal is to create a research guide for them to print and have for their own reference. 

Idea TRAILS...

This year the library moved to a new 'satellite' room at school. The move ended up being representative my evolution of duties at the school. For the past three years I have acted as a typical school librarian, managing the physical library space, providing literacy related programming and sharing resources with teachers. This year, I have found myself in a new territory.

Through serendipitous happenings, I was made aware of two organizational infinitives: Google Classroom and e-book implementation. I was surprised I had not been asked for input on the two projects, so I made an effort to contact the representative teams and ask if they would like a librarian's perspective. Happily, the answer in both cases was, 'YES!'.

In working with these two groups, I have forged relationships with both the Technology Director and Curriculum Coordinator. I have also had the opportunity to provide comprehensive technological training to staff and administration. Expanding beyond the traditional librarian roles has been exciting. Technology has always been a passion of mine and having the ability to be on the front lines has been eye opening. Eye opening to the point where I have begun to brainstorm about a whole new type of educational position.

I call it the TRAILS Coordinator.

Earlier this spring I chatted with Brighton's first S/T/M Coach about her new role. I realized there was significant potential for a librarian to morph into a similar position. For the past few weeks, I've been playing around with the idea and came up with an acronym to represent areas I would like to focus on: Technology, Reading Advocate, Information Literacy, Science (TRAILS).

No acronym can ever encompass a complex idea like education, but it gave me a tangible word to grasp when I feel brainstorming getting out of control. I am looking forward to continuing my research and exploration of new ways a librarian can improve the educational environment.

Further Reading:
- DeChenne, S., Nugent, G., Kunz, G., Luo, L., Berry, B., Craven, K., & Riggs, A. (2014). Coaching in a science, technology, engineering, and math professional development experience: A case study (R2Ed Working Paper No. 2014-7). Retrieved from the National Center for Research on Rural Education: r2ed.unl.edu (http://r2ed.unl.edu/resources/downloads/2014-wp/2014_7_DeChenne_Nugent_Kunz_Luo_Berry_Craven_Riggs.pdf)

2018 March

Accomplishments

• Superintendent’s Conference Day presentation
• Coordinate book donations from BML
• Audiobook grant
• Curriculum book list creation 
• Decorating bookends with students
• Bind student portfolios
• If You Give a Hawk a Hamburger and Hotdog with Hot Sauce book
• Prep summer reading options
• Coordinate with foundations and school store

I partnered with the curriculum coordinator to present a full day conference on inquiry based learning. I focused on surveying a variety of resources for teachers and teaching students to effectively evaluate research resources. We went full C.R.A.A.P. mode and it was wonderful!

Our school has recently rewritten the curriculum. I have been working with the curriculum coordinator to create a comprehensive booklist for staff. It’s been an amazing exercise in selection and curriculum connection. A HUGE thanks to Commonsense Media for helping me with book reviews and educational value measurements!

I also finally got to publish another book with the primary students. If You Give A Hawk a Hamburger and Hotdog with Hot Sauce is a crowd-pleaser!

Hands of the authors! 

2018 February

Accomplishments

• Train entire staff on Google Classroom
• Quatrains with Ms. Rs’ Class
• Print student handbook
• Principals meeting to discuss e-books
• Prep presentation for Superintendent's Conference Day

This month I shared my e-book pilot results and recommendations at the principals meeting. A gutted version of my principals report follows.

Digital School Library Next Steps

• Redraw Contract with Overdrive: Add remaining schools to the Digital School Library. 
• Reactivate Reading Options: Technology has configured browser only reading options. Reading via devices and apps has been disabled. The purpose of utilizing a Digital School Library is to increase student reading, if we don’t allow students to utilize reading apps on ipads or utilize kindles, we critically limit accessibility. The limitation was made due to inconsistent results when testing books being returned early when devices are disconnected from the internet. It’s possible that the book assignment feature can alleviate these issues. If testing results are positive, the reading options will be re-activated. 
• Activitate Simple Login: Simple Login is an easy-to-use, easy-to-remember login option that allows students to borrow titles for 2 hours. It’s ideal for teaching students about using OverDrive, getting students reading before accounts have been set up, classroom reference or research projects, or for younger users. 
• Install OverDrive Application: Install OverDrive application on all devices, including teacher and student laptops and iPads. 
• Explore Free options: Overdrive is a wonderful tool, but it is severely limited to our budget. There are a few free options available via Overdrive, but they only support a small fraction of the English and reading curriculum. 
• EPIC!: (https://www.getepic.com/app/personalize_educator_welcome)
• Open e-books (http://www.fbmarketplace.org/openebooks)
• Approve Kindle Readers: Explore purchasing Kindle readers. Benefits over iPads: cheaper, more durable, easier to read, less eye strain, longer battery life, less distractions for students (other apps).
• Add Advantage Plus feature to Overdrive: The Advantage Plus feature will allow for Title I purchasing and other campus restricted collections.

Conclusion
Using OverDrive as a Digital School Library will help bring our schools into the 21st century. With some adjustments and training, a Digital School Library can help improve education by providing affordable, shareable reading resources.

2018 January

Accomplishments

• Littles with Ms. R’s Class
• Newsletter
• Distribute art donation books
• New Study Island in library
• e-book evaluation
• Yoga advertising
• Magic Tree House & Google Classroom Pilot Unit
• Explore interlibrary loan between campuses
• Train staff on school technology
• Pencils and Paper donation coordination
• Initial meeting with curriculum coordinator on book list creation

FInally got the Google Classroom pilot lesson going. I selected Magic Tree House Earthquake in the Early Morning as the book to frame the next few weeks of lessons. I also choose to infuse primary resources into the lesson by examining life in 1906 San Francisco. I found some wonderful resources on the Library of Congress website. Other topics in the unit included the science behind fire, plate tectonics, and quatrains.

2017 December

Accomplishments

• E-book evaluation
• Google Classroom research and training
• Book on Every Pillow
• Expanded responsibilities proposal meeting
• Overdrive phone calls
• Tortuga Squad with Ms. R’s Class

Dove headfirst into Overdrive evaluation. It’s been a wonderful learning experience. I know nothing about the back end of Overdrive. So I called a few local BOCES directors to get some inside information. I also called Overdrive themselves and had very long conversations with representatives. They have been so helpful and wonderful trying to figure out everything.

I also distributed books to all units for students to open over the holidays. Another adventure in super readers advisory! ~80 kids with atypical reading levels and a variety of triggers.